GPS And Northern Ireland

[Guest cuchulain]

Morning,I have just purchased a generic blutooth GPS Receiver (seems to be a far eastern model GNT-120, unknown Chipset) , for the princely sum of about 40 gbp , (read CHEAP!!). It will pair with my C600 , create serial port fine , and it will do both with wifeys C550.

However my problem is when I try to use GPSDash2 or GPSsmart they fail to find a satellite lock.

I have done all the obvious things , remove battery , reinsert battery on the receiver and try again ,

uncheck( or check) secure communication on the com port settings on the phone.

All to no avail.

Having read many forum posts and faqs on GPS recveivers, it seems 2 options are left to me , find a high mountain and camp out there until it acquires its first satellite fix, or secondly consider the unit broken and send it back for a replacement.,

Has anyone any suggestions on something I've missed ????

Thanks

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

How long have you waited?

I assume you're outside or at the very least by a window with a good view of the sky?

P

[Guest cuchulain]

I've been outside each time , waited between 2 and 15minutes , all to no joy!

Have done it at various locations , roadsides of barren county antrim roads, even right beside the back runway of Belfast International airport on a windswept rainy day !,

the only variable i haven't altered is the height, they have been done at a consistant height of about 100 - 200 metres above sea.

There is the chance that in this case 'Cheap GPS Receiver' actually translates as 'Cr*p, Useless, Unworking , Far Eastern Rubbi*h GPS Receiver' !

The only thing left to do really is to climb a mountain and try it high up , which i may actually do tonight

Thanks for the help ....

>>>>>

How long have you waited?

I assume you're outside or at the very least by a window with a good view of the sky?

P

[Guest jimbouk]

I would wait longer before writing it off. The very first fix can take a while.

[Guest cuchulain]

Excellent , thanks for the help , on a sliding scale when do i consider giving it up ,

both GPSdash and GPStuner are on 30 minute trials (run for thirty minutes and then restart program).

I had thought that 15 minutes would satisfy ??

How long have other people waited for a first lock?

Again thanks to everyone for the help and advice , it is appreciated.

I would wait longer before writing it off. The very first fix can take a while.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

15 minutes won't always be long enough for a cold start, even if you have a good view of the sky.

Try this for now:

http://www.visualgps.net/VisualGPSce/

so you don't have a time limit.

If you can leave it on a table in the garden with a really clear view of the sky, it'll help.

P

[Guest awarner (MVP)]

If it's brand new then as said above some GPS recievers can take time for their first lock even up to 30 mins.

You can still leave the GPS on without running the applications as it will still lock onto the satallites

After letting my Fortuna's battery die it failed to detect a signal again.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Not all GPS' ash... some (like mine) automatically switch off the GPS chipset when no BT device is connected.

P

[Guest mrjolly]

I have the same GPS device as you, got it this morning. I'm using BT to connect it to my new shiny M3100 (mmmh mmmh) and using it with TomTom. Other that figuring out how to get it connected after pairing (it's my first GPS thingy) it has worked really well and seemed to get a lock very quickly in that I didn't even know that is didn't have a lock if you catch me drift.

I've just turned it on after taking the battery out and it took a couple of minutes to find a lock, I'm actually inside and its near a window but when I put it in the car earlier to have a play it was very quick and I hadn't noticed it being without a signal.

I know this probably doesn't help you much and I did see a comment on mobilefun.co.uk where I bought this one from where a guy said the first one he was supplied was dead, maybe you could get it replaced?

P.S. I came across this post looking for a Windows driver for the unit, if anyone finds one would be appreciated.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Windows driver? How do u mean?

GPS devices don't have drivers per se, they are just standard serial devices that should be support by your regular Windows BT stack SPP drivers.

P